Pep Guardiola believes Manchester City were the better side in the FA Cup final
Pep Guardiola has claimed that Manchester United were not the better side in the FA Cup final. The Manchester City boss believes his side did better, but the result did not go their way.
Speaking to the media after the match, Guardiola was asked if Manchester United the better side on the day. He rejected the claim immediately with a firm ‘No’, stating that his side were easily the better team on the pitch.
However, he went on to congratulate the Red Devils and added that they are a team in transition and needed the win. He admitted that his side were disappointed at losing the match, but were already looking to the next season.
He said:
“Congratulations to Manchester United. They are always a transition team. At the end they scored two goals and we couldn’t score more. It’s disappointing, that’s normal in a final but this season has been extraordinary, fighting for all the titles, Now we are sad but tomorrow we celebrate the incredible achievements we have done. Then we come back next season. We celebrated this week. When you get 91 points, it’s because you win a lot of games. We have to be incredibly proud.”
Guardiola went on to take the blame for the loss and stated that his tactics were not good. He believes that the game plan should have been different and his tweaks made his side weak.
He said:
“My game plan was not good. We were not in the right positions to attack them. It was my decision. The players were focused. Tactically, it was not good. The players know it. It was a tight game, we gave away the first goal and the second we didn’t close well enough. The second half was much better because we were more intense. We had the chances, unfortunately we scored a little bit late.”
Manchester United won 2-1 on Saturday to lift the FA Cup at Wembley. Alejandro Garnacho and Kobiee Mainoo scored the goals for the Red Devils, while Jeremy Doku pulled one back late in the game for the Cityzens.
Guardiola was then asked if Manchester United should sack Erik ten Hag and he brushed aside the question. He said that the Red Devils should make the decision but he believes the Dutchman is still an extraordinary manager.
“They had to take a decision, so I don’t know. He’s a lovely person, an extraordinary manager. Of course winning the FA Cup is important to them.”
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